Resizing Shapes in PowerPoint 2013 for Windows

Learn how to resize shapes in PowerPoint 2013 for Windows.

Author:Geetesh Bajaj

Product/Version: Microsoft PowerPoint 2013OS: Windows 7 and 8

Date Created: August 5th 2013Last Updated: August 5th 2013

Once you insert
your shapes on a slide, you may realize that it's not the perfect size -- did you
want it larger, or a wee bit smaller? However you want your shapes resized, it's easy
to make the size change in a jiffy, right inside
PowerPoint 2013. Like most
Microsoft Office programs, PowerPoint follows the concept of selection, then action --
so the first thing you need to do for a shape that you want resized is to select it!
Any shape that is selected shows several handles, as shown in both the shapes you see
in Figure 1.

Figure 1: Shapes have several handles

Look closely at Figure 1 -- and you'll find that the selected shape
has several handles. These are:

Resize by Dragging

When you drag any of the eight white handles, you can resize the
shape in various ways, depending upon certain factors, as explained below:

When you drag any of the handles inwards, you scale down the size of the shape.

When you drag any of the handles outwards, you enlarge the size of the shape.

To maintain the width:height proportions of the shape, hold the Shift key while
you drag one of the four corner handles (see Figure 2).

Figure 2: Shift drag to maintain the width:height proportion while resizing a shape

To resize from the center of the shape rather than from a corner or side, hold the
Ctrl key while you drag one of the four corner or side handles
(see Figure 3).

Figure 3: Ctrl dragging resizes from the center of a shape rather than from a
corner or side

To resize from the center and still maintain proportions, hold both the Shift
and Ctrl keys while you drag one of the four corner handles see Figure 4).

Figure 4: Combine both Ctrl and Shift dragging options to get the best of both
worlds

To resize only one side, drag the corresponding side handle (see Figure 5).

Figure 5: Resize only one side

To resize opposite sides equally, hold the Ctrl key while you drag a side handle
(see Figure 6).

Figure 6: Resize two sides at the same time equally

Resize using the Keyboard

You can also resize the selected shape by pressing the Shift key and then pressing
any of the four arrow keys on your keyboard. This option takes the center of the shape as an
anchor point to resize from. Use any of following command combinations to resize the shape.

Shift+Up Arrow increases the height of the shape

Shift+Down Arrow decrease the height of the shape

Shift+Left Arrow decrease the width of the shape

Shift+Right Arrow increases the width of the shape

As you resize the shape, you can see the height and the width change dynamically within
the Size group of Drawing Tools Format tab of the
Ribbon (see Figure 7).

Figure 7: The Drawing Tools Format tab includes the Size group

Also you can check the Lock Aspect Ratio check-box in
the Format Shape pane (discussed later on this page, see Figure 9),
and then use Shift in combination with any of the arrow keys to proportionately resize
the selected shape.

The options explained above allow you to resize based on what you see rather than resizing them
to exact numerical values. To resize any shape to an exact size, you first select it. This
activates the Drawing Tools Format tab on the Ribbon
(see Figure 7, above). Within the Size group (highlighted in red within Figure 7, above), change the Height and the
Width values to resize the shape. You must press Enter after
typing in a value – you can also use the increase or decrease buttons next to the the numbers to increase or decrease the value.

To view even more resize options, click the small arrow dialog launcher located at the bottom right
corner of the Size group (highlighted in red within Figure 8).

Have your ever used keyboard shortcuts and sequences in PowerPoint? Or are you a complete keyboard aficionado? Do you want to learn about some new shortcuts? Or do you want to know if your favorite keyboard shortcuts are documented?